


black days and sky grey

by kissmesexybatman



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Minor Violence, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:37:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7258426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissmesexybatman/pseuds/kissmesexybatman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Nightmares aren't anything to be ashamed of, you know. We all have them."</p><p>A short Damian and Tim brother-bonding drabble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	black days and sky grey

The sound of the rain was deafening. Damian stood in the darkened lobby of Wayne Enterprises, chest heaving and limbs trembling, as if he'd run the entire length of the city at a dead sprint, but all he could hear was the roar and trickle of the deluge, splashing through the gutters and washing the streets clean. The yellow lights of the city reflected off the ankle-deep water on the floor. When he looked down, tendrils of blood unfurled around him like a flower blossoming. 

He looked back up, towards the front doors, and before him stood his mother. She was holding a knife as long as his forearm. Where her eyes should be were two pits of green flame, twisting and leaping and licking towards him, pulling him in until everything was black and green and all he could hear was water and he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak or cry out, couldn’t do anything but watch as she lifted the blade and swung.

Damian startled awake so hard he nearly fell off the couch. He glanced around wildly for a second, searching for danger, before he really processed what was happening. 

He was in the library at Wayne Manor. A book lay on the floor next to him. He must have fallen asleep reading. The sound of the rain continued, drifting in through an open window, although it was a lot quieter. Now he could hear his own labored breathing over the water. He squeezed his eyes shut, deliberately slowing his breath back to a normal pace. His chest ached.

“You okay?” a voice asked suddenly, and Damian most definitely did not jump.

The Pretender was peering at him around a bookshelf. Damian scowled, ignoring the trembling in his fingers as he pushed himself upright. “I’m fine. None of your concern, anyways.”

Drake rolled his eyes, childishly. “No, you crying in your sleep isn’t anything I should be worried about.”

Damian blinked in surprise and swiped the back of his hand across his face. Drake was right, his cheeks were wet. “That’s-- it’s nothing,” he mumbled, but he couldn’t meet the Pretender’s gaze anymore.

He still refused to look at him as Drake walked over and sat on the other end of the couch. He had a thick book in his hands, something about Old Gotham and architecture in the title. “Nightmares aren’t anything to be ashamed of, you know,” Tim told him, and his voice sounded softer than Damian had ever heard it. At least, softer than he had heard directed at him. "We all have them."

“I told you,” Damian snapped. “It’s none of your concern.”

Tim leveled him with an unimpressed look. “You kept saying ‘mother.’”

He scowled again and crossed his arms. “Why are you even here? No one wants you around.”

Drake sighed. “A water pipe burst in the wall of my apartment and it’s going to take two weeks for the repair company to fix it, so I asked Bruce if I could stay here until it’s finished. Kind of seemed like a bad idea to be vanishing into the secret door in the wall all the time with a plumber in the room. Thanks for the sentiment though, Demon Brat. It’s nice to be appreciated.”

“Just making sure you know your place,” Damian shot back. Tim snorted and stood again, walking back over to the shelf and pulling out another book. 

Titus raised his head from where he was stretched out by the fireplace and unfolded his long limbs, ambling over to Damian and shoving his big head into his lap. Damian scratched him behind the ears for a minute, letting the dog drool all over his pants, before his curiosity got the best of him. “What are you reading?” he demanded.

“Doing some research on Old Gotham,” Tim answered absently. “There’s a gang of thieves who keep hitting places in Midtown and then vanishing from all surveillance feeds. I’m trying to find out if there are any access tunnels nearby they could be using…” His voice trailed off as he flipped a page, dark bangs hanging into his eyes.

“Father has some diagrams down in the cave,” Damian informed him, scratching under Titus’ chin. The dog closed his eyes and snuffled his pleasure.

“He does? Man, I have to get him to start scanning and uploading that stuff,” Drake grumbled, closing the books and heading for the doorway. He hesitated on the threshold, looking back at Damian, who studiously ignored him. 

“Listen,” Tim started, sounding almost reluctant, “I know you would rather suffer through this stuff yourself, but getting help is not the same as weakness. Leslie is really good at helping people with trauma. I mean, look how much better Jay’s been doing. Just…” He hesitated a second. “You have people who care about you, you know? You should take care of yourself.”

Damian tutted to cover his surprise. Drake rarely spoke so earnestly to him. “I hope you’re not talking about yourself.”

Drake rolled his eyes again. “Of course not, Damian.” He vanished into the hallway.

He looked down at Titus again. The dog stared back at him with droopy brown eyes. “He doesn’t know anything,” he mumbled to the dog, but he did make a mental note to ask Alfred to call Doctor Thompkins for him. It couldn’t hurt any, he reasoned, and since it was summer break he didn’t have much to do during the days anyways. Plus, he had been having some trouble sleeping at night recently. His insomnia could have a physical cause, and it would be foolish to allow himself to fall seriously ill without getting checked out. Alfred was good at first aid, but they still generally visited the doctor for sickness. It would only be the sensible thing to do.

“Oh, hey,” Tim’s voice interrupted his thoughts again, and he looked up to see him peering around the doorway at him again. “I was going to watch that new Star Trek movie after I finish this. Steph said I would probably hate it. Do you wanna join me?”

Damian considered it. “Only if you make the popcorn.”

Tim smiled. “Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... if there's any belief in this world I hold to be absolute fact, it's that Damian Wayne listens to Panic! at the Disco.
> 
> Don't forget to drop a kudos if you liked this, or a comment either here or over on my [tumblr!](http://kissmesexybatman.tumblr.com/) I love talking batfam feels.
> 
> (Also can you believe Titus has his own tag? God bless.)


End file.
